Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar
MP Sandipan Bhumre and former legislative council opposition leader Ambadas Danve have urged chief minister Devendra Fadnavis not to shift the Water Resources Department’s Chief Engineer’s office from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar to Nanded. They submitted memorandums to the Chief Minister and Water Resources Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil.
The administration has decided to restructure the Godavari Marathwada Irrigation Development Corporation, proposing closure of 29 sub-divisional offices in Marathwada and merger of 16 sub-divisions with command area development offices. The Chief Engineer’s regional office at Sinchan Bhavan is also proposed to be shifted to Nanded. The decision has created concern among officers and employees, many of whom had taken transfers to Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar for their children’s education and treatment of elderly parents. The leaders said the city is a divisional headquarters and centrally located, and the reason for shifting the office remains unclear. They also said two divisional offices and nine sub-divisions under four circle offices are proposed to be shifted to Nashik, while 19 sub-divisional offices may be closed. These offices are crucial to addressing Marathwada’s irrigation backlog, and the move would be unjust to the region.
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Why shift the office without any demand?
The leaders questioned why the office is being shifted from Sinchan Bhavan to Nanded when no such demand was made by public representatives, social organisations, or farmers.